Cut the power bill, not the yield
A local AI watches temperature, weather and day-ahead power prices around the clock, pre-heats when power is cheap and a cold night is coming, and shifts lighting and dehumidification off peak. The team keeps control the whole way.
100% local Works offline Price aware Keeps your climate computer
Greenhouse energy optimization means running heating, supplemental lighting and dehumidification around day-ahead power prices and the weather forecast instead of a fixed schedule. A local AI decision layer sits on top of the existing climate computer and PLC, pre-heats when power is cheap before a cold night, shifts lighting and dehumidification off peak and balances energy against yield and plant health. It runs entirely on the operator's own hardware with no cloud and keeps optimizing when the internet drops.
Energy on a fixed schedule, prices that never sit still
Energy is the biggest cost an operator can actually control, and most of it runs on a fixed schedule. Heating, heat pumps, supplemental lighting and dehumidification fire on timers and thresholds while day-ahead power prices swing hour by hour. The climate computer holds the setpoint. Nobody lines the whole energy load up against the price curve and the crop at once.
Volatile power prices
Heating, heat pumps and lighting run on prices that swing hour by hour, and a fixed schedule cannot follow the cheap and expensive hours.
Peak load penalties
When lighting, heating and dehumidification all draw at the same hour, peak demand charges hit the bill even when total use is flat.
Energy pulls against yield
Cutting power the blunt way puts the crop at risk, and a fixed schedule never weighs the energy bill against the kilos it protects.
Price-aware control, on your own hardware
The agent reads temperature, weather and the day-ahead power price continuously, weighs energy against the operator's yield targets and drives the heating, lighting and screens that are already installed. It plans ahead instead of only reacting, and it explains every move in plain language.
- 1
Look ahead
Power is cheap tonight and a cold night is coming, and the crop is in a sensitive stage. So the agent pre-heats the house gently now while power is cheapest and eases off toward morning, instead of firing hard at the peak-price hour.
- 2
Balance energy against yield
It does not just chase the lowest kWh. It weighs the power bill against the kilos it protects, shifts lighting and dehumidification into cheap off-peak hours and holds the crop in its safe range.
- 3
Explain and stay in control
Ask why it pre-heated and it answers in plain language. Every move is logged and auditable, and the team sets the guardrails and can override any action.
Observes
On-Device Agent
Runs 100% locally on your hardware
Acts
Optimize for energy cost per kilo
Operators do not chase the lowest meter reading. They want the lowest energy cost per kilo produced. The agent optimizes the numbers that move the P&L, from peak load and heating cost to payback time. The range below comes from an independent study for this technology category.
up to ~40%1
energy vs conventional greenhouse practice
Price aware
heats when power is cheapest
Per kg
optimizes energy cost per kilo, not just kWh
One agent, the whole energy bill
Price-aware planning
It reads the day-ahead power price and the weather forecast and schedules heating, lighting and dehumidification into the cheapest safe hours, hours ahead instead of reacting at the peak.
Peak load management
It spreads heavy loads so lighting, heating and dehumidification do not all draw at once, which trims the demand charge that shows up even when total use is flat.
Balances energy against yield
It weighs every kilowatt hour against the crop it protects, so the goal is the lowest energy cost per kilo, not just the lowest meter reading.
Works with heat pumps and boilers
It coordinates the heat source you already run, pre-heats a buffer tank when power is cheap and eases the morning ramp without a new controller.
Self diagnosis
Energy use climbs with no matching weather change, so a screen or valve is probably stuck. The agent surfaces the likely cause before it turns into a loss and opens a maintenance task.
Fleet across sites
House 7 grows the same crop with less energy than house 4. The fleet view finds that strategy and rolls it out everywhere from one place.
What could the range mean here
Enter an annual energy spend and see the saving range an independent study reports for this category. The real figure gets measured in a pilot, never guessed.
Typical benchmark range
10-40%
Estimated annual saving
€40,000 - €160,000/ year
Range based on Wageningen Next Generation Growing (energy vs conventional greenhouse practice), reported via HortiDaily. The saving depends on your baseline and gets validated in a pilot, not promised.
Your energy data never leaves the greenhouse
The agent runs entirely on the operator's own hardware. No cloud, no data leaving the building, and it keeps optimizing energy even when the internet drops. Every action is logged and auditable, which matters when the operation answers to owners and regulators.
- 100% local, no cloud dependency
- Keeps optimizing through internet outages
- Works with the existing climate computer and PLC
- Full audit trail of every decision
- Explainable, not a black box
- Designed for EU Cyber Resilience Act readiness
Questions greenhouse operators ask
Do we have to replace our climate computer?
No. The agent adds a decision layer on top of the existing climate computer, PLC and sensors. It coordinates the heating, lighting and dehumidification that are already installed toward your energy goals, and full manual control stays with the team.
How does it use power prices?
It reads day-ahead power prices and the weather forecast, pre-heats when power is cheap before a cold night and shifts supplemental lighting and dehumidification into off-peak hours, so the same work happens at a lower cost.
Will saving energy hurt my yield?
No. It balances energy against yield, so the target is the lowest energy cost per kilo, not the lowest meter reading. It holds the crop in its safe range and the team sets the guardrails it must stay inside.
How much can we actually save?
Wageningen Next Generation Growing reports up to around 40 percent lower energy versus conventional greenhouse practice, via HortiDaily. The result depends on your baseline, so we do not promise a fixed number. The real figure gets measured in a pilot.
Does it run without internet?
Yes. Everything runs locally on your own hardware, so the agent keeps optimizing energy during outages and no energy or plant data ever leaves the greenhouse.
Does it work with heat pumps and our boiler?
Yes. It coordinates the heat source you already run, pre-heats a buffer tank when power is cheap and works through the existing PLC, so no controller has to be swapped out.
Put a price-aware energy planner in every greenhouse
Start a pilot on one house, measure the real saving on your crop and your energy contract, and keep the team in control the whole way.
Sources and notes
- 1Energy: Wageningen Next Generation Growing, reported via HortiDaily, measured against conventional greenhouse practice. The saving depends on your baseline and gets validated in a pilot, not promised.